Khan, were commissioned during this time. After the demise of Satrajit Ray, the son of Mukundaram Ray and one of the Bara Bhuiyans of Bengal in 1636, the royal family diminished in stature. Kalinarayan Ray, the son of Satrajit, was a zamindar of the small parganas of Rupapat, Poktani, Rukanpur & Kachuberia taraf of Naldi pargana under the chakla of Bhusna. During Sitaram's reign, the minor sons of Kalinarayan's grandson Krishna Prasad were the zamindars. Sitaram annexed this small feudatory into his kingdom. To the west of Satrajitpur lay the pargana of Mahmudshahi, at the time under the zamindari of Naldanga. When Sitaram invaded Mahamudshahi, Ramdev, the zamindar of Naldanga, was forced to cede the pargana to Sitaram. Later, when Sachipati Majumdar, the zamindar of Nanduali revolted against Ramdev and stopped paying taxes, Sitaram supported him and made a treaty with him. Sitaram annexed the small zamindars in the north up to the Padma, and even some portions to the north of Padma in the district of Pabna. Most of these zamindars were under Pathan rule. To the north of Satair lay the jagir of a Pathan named Daulat Khan. After his demise, the estate broke into four parganas – Nasibshahi, Nusratshahi, Mahimshahi & Belgachhi. Sitaram invaded Nasibshahi when the battle for succession was taking place among the sons of Daulat Khan. Sitaram defeated Nasibshahi in the battle of Malanchigram and the battle of Kalikapur. After defeating the other sons of Daulat Khan, Sitaram annexed all four parganas into his kingdom. The conquest of these Pathan feudatories took place between 1702 and 1704. When Sitaram was away from Mohammadpur, Manohar Ray, the zamindar of Chanchra, conspired with the Nurullah Khan, the Mughal faujdar of Mirzanagar, to attack Mohammadpur. At that time, the capital was entrusted with his diwan Jadunath Majumdar. The combined forces of Manohar Ray and Nurullah Khan camped at Bunagati. Jadunath connected the streams of Chitra and Phatki by a canal to check their further advancement and garrisoned his troops and artillery. Manohar Ray, sensing defeat, made peace with Jadunath and retreated. When Sitaram received the news, he immediately invaded the Ishafpur pargana of Chanchra and advanced with his troops to Nilganj. Manohar was forced to accept the suzerainty of Sitaram and pay revenue to him. In the Sundarbans, Sitaram's domain lay to the east of Shibsha river, corresponding to the modern district of Bagerhat. In 1710, when